Sound Clips:

Mesa Boogie Subway Rocket Tone – Contour Mode

I’ll post the others soon, I promise!

Specs

• 2 Channels: Rhythm and Lead+Switchable Contour
• 3 Band Shared EQ
• 22 Watts: 4x12AX7 Preamp Tubes & 2xEL84 Power Tubes
• Parallel Effects Loop with Mix Control
• 8-4-4 OHM Outputs
• Eminence 10″ 50 Watt 8 OHM Speaker (Labeled as Vintage Black Shadow)

On to the details

I have been considering making the jump to a tube amp for a while but the cost has always put me off. I have a collection of solid state amps that have given me great tone and I could never find a tube amp for less than $1000 that sounded significantly better than the amps I already had. Nevertheless, any time a new reasonably-priced tube amp shows up in my GC (Guitar Center) catalog, I have to go try it out. It was on one of these treks where I encountered the Subway Rocket.

I went into GC specifically to try out a second-hand Crate V33 they had priced to move. After ten minutes of tinkering, I was completely turned off. But I figured while I was there, I’d have some fun. So I grabbed a nice Strat and plugged into the ol’ standby: the Fender Blues Junior. The Blues Junior has always held a certain quality that attracts me. Set the gain at 7, roll back the volume on a neck-position single coil, and let the tubes sing. I’ve always loved the sound, but I could never justify spending $600 on an amp when I have an old $200 Fender Automatic that cries quite beautifully in it’s own (albiet, solid state) right. Well, while I was enjoying the tone pouring from the Junior, I glanced over and spotted a small combo amp with the logo which has become sort of a holy grail for me: Mesa/Boogie.

I think the main reason Mesa/Boogie has reached holy grail status for me is that I never thought I would be able to afford one. I’ve been a fan of John Petrucci (of Dream Theater) for a long time and his guitar tone is what set the bar for me. Any time he plays you’re sure to see a wall of Mesa/Boogie cabinets and his trusty Mark IIC+ amp heads. Those heads alone sell for $2500+, and since I’m not making a living off of my guitar playing, I could never justify spending anywhere near that amount of money on an amp. But man, is the tone incredible.

Now, my first thought as I looked at this unassuming combo amp was, “That has to be some kind of marketing gimmick”. I thought that there was no way Mesa could get the wall of tone that they’re famous for into a 10″ combo. But just for fun, I decided to plug in a see how it sounded. After five minutes, I was completely sold; this amp is amazing.

I’ve now had it for a week, I’ve put it through it’s paces, and I have to say, I’m still completely sold. The rhythm channel on this amp at half gain is the silkiest, smoothest blues grit I’ve ever heard. Flip it into the lead channel with the gain at 8 and you’re in metal land. Step on the contour switch and stand back! Even though it’s a 10″ combo, this thing will make your ears bleed. I set the lead channel volume at 2 in my recording room (a huge open room with vaulted ceilings) and I couldn’t take it for more than a couple of minutes; I had to turn it down. My final test was to throw an SM57 in front of it to see how it would track to “tape” without too much fuss and I wasn’t disapointed. That magical thing about microphones is that they don’t care how big the speaker is; it sounds monstrous. I’ll have some clips of the recording up here shortly.

In a final word, this amp is the perfect studio guitarist/owner’s friend. It’s extremely versatile and because it was built by Mesa/Boogie, it is truly a professional piece of equipment. Just by looking at it, you get the impression that it was built to last. If you’re a guitarist in the market for your first tube amp, I HIGHLY recommend seeking out one of these amps. This is one piece of gear I will never sell.

More Photos

Thanks for stopping by!

Since receiving them, the NS-4s gained a permanent place on my mixing desk. I knew that they wouldn’t be true reference monitors, but to be honest, these speakers are amazing. Paired with my NS-10Ms, they make a great a/b team.

Related to the NS-10M?

Earlier this month, I decided to try and find out if there was any significance between the NS model numbers. Now, anyone who knows the recording industry has heard of the NS-10M. If you look through a recording magazine, you’re bound to find at least one photo of a studio with a pair of the iconic, white-woofered, NS-10Ms sitting on the the console. Why they’re so popular is a subject of much debate. Some engineers will say that they are really unforgiving and will only sound good if the mix is good. Others will say that it’s merely the result of some great engineer mentioning that they used them and it caught on. I won’t go into that argument here; Suffice it to say, they’ve been used to mix thousands of great records.

Interestingly, it seems as though there may be some relationship between the NS-4 and the NS-10M afterall.

I found this post on the following: http://thewombforums.com/showthread.php?t=3835&page=3

Bob Olhsson says:

Bob Clearmountain and a bunch of us LOVED the mixes we got using Yamaha NS-4s.

Lots of studios had them on hand because for a few years during the ’80s they were the biggest selling speaker having dethroned the JBL L-100. They had dethroned the Advents and before them the KLH6s.

Unfortunately Yamaha discontinued the NS-4 and the amount of professional use quickly depleted Yamaha’s stock of original replacement drivers. They came up with a substitute but it wasn’t the same at all translation-wise. The closest thing Yamaha made to the NS-4 was the NS-10 which was a smaller “high end” version. When the Power Station finally ran out of NS-4 drivers, they put in NS-10s. Clearmountain thought they were brighter but sort of the same so he put tissue over the tweeters.

He got a write-up about a Stones album he mixed that included mention of the NS-10s with tissue over the tweeters. Next thing we knew, virtually every studio in the world had NS-10s with tissue over the tweeters sitting on their consoles.

I’m not sure how much truth there is to that post but according to Bob’s website, he’s been recording since 1965 and I’m inclined to believe him.

Well, whether the NS-4s played a signifigant role in recording history or not, I sure do love them. If anyone has any more information about these speakers, I’d love to hear it!

Unfortunately, the selection of local lumber in Las Vegas is a bit slim so my design was limited by the selection available. I already knew I wanted 100% hardwood, so I looked at what they had at the local Home Deopt, made some quick calculations in my head, and asked them to cut me a few pieces of Red Oak and Maple.

About 2 hours of measuring and cutting, 6 hours of sanding, and a few hours waiting for glue to set, I had my finished product.

Photos